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SPEECH OF HON. RUSSELL SAGE, 



OF NEW YORK, 



On the Professions and Acts of the President of the Unit ea\S tales; 
the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise; the Outrages in\kan.fqs; 
and the Sectional Influence and Aggressions of the Slave 



'oicer 



DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 6, 1856. 



Mr. Chairman : When I took my seat iere in 
December, 1853, I found a new Administration 
in power, having been elected by one of the 
largest popluar votes ever given to any previous 
one. It had over two-thirds of its friends in 
the Senate and in this House. It received this 
power by professions and pledges of adherence to 
the compromises of the past, and opposition to 
the agitation of the question of Slavery in the 
future. The country was in an unprecedented 
state of prosperity. Our foreign and domestic 
affairs were of the most pacific character": bin 
in less than two months a change commenced, 
and instead of peace and quiet reigniDg, as had 
been promised, the fire-brand of Slavery and sec 
tionalism was introduced into the Senate of he 
United States by the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. 
Douglas;] and the unfortunate bitter and sec- 
tional results that have followed it. is the subject 
whi«h I propose to discuss during the time allot- 
ted to me this evening, in the following order, 
namely : 

ITS CAUSES. ITS OBJECTS. ITS RESULTS. ITS IN- 
FLUENCE AND REMEDY. 

First, its cause was owing to the departure from 
the professions and pledges made prior to and 
at the commencement of the present Administra- 
tion. It is a historical fact, that during the long 
and exciting session of the Congress ol 
certain Senators and Representatives, then in 
Congress, got up a Congressional pledge, for the 
-purpose of forever stopping the agitation of the 
subject of Slavery and of saving the Union, and 
that the present Administration came into power 
on the professions and pledge of adherence to 
and support of this Congressional pledge and the 
Compromise Measures of l«o0. 

Mr. Chairman, in order that we may fully 
realize the fidelity of this Administration in its 
professions and pledges, I beg to read this mem- 
orable document, that the country may judge of 
the difference between professions and acts : 
Declaration and Pledge. 
"The undersigned, members of ihe Thirty-first Con- 
gress of the United Stales, believing that a renewal c>t 
sectional controversy upon the subject of Slavery would 
be both dangerous to the Union and destructive to lis objects. 



and seeing- no mode by which such controversies can he 
avoided, excepi by a strict adherence to tin- settlement 
thereof, effeced by. the Compromise passed at the last 
«esMon of Congress, do hereby declare then- intention to 
maintain the same settlement inviolate, and to resist all 
attempts to repeal or alter the acts aforesaid, unless by gen- 
era] consent of the friends of the measure, and to remedy 
snch evils, if any. as lime ami experience may develop. 
Anil for the purpose of making this resolution effective, 
they further declare that they will not support for the office 
of President or Vice President, or of Senator or ofRepre- 
sentative in Congress, or as member of a State Legisla- 
ture, any man. of whatever party, who is not known to 
be opposed to the disturbance of the sentiment aforesaid, 
and to the renewal, in any form, of agitation upon the 
subject of Slavery hereafter. 
" Henry Clay, 

C. S. Morehead, 

Robert L. Rose, 

William C. Dawson, 

Thomas J. Rusk, 



Jeremiah Clemens, 
James Cooper, 
Thomas G. Pratt, 
William Si. Gwin, 
Samuel A. Elliott, 
David Ouilaw, 
C. H. Williams, 
J. Rlielps Phecnix, 
A U. Seherinerhorn, 
John R. Thurman, 
D A. Bokee, 
Georsre R. Andrews, 
W.JP.Mangum, 
Jeremiah Morton, 
R. J. Bowie, 
E. C. Cabell. 
Alexander Evans, 



Howell Cobb, 
H. S. root, 
William Duer, 
James Brooks, 
A. U. Stephens. 
R. Toombs. 
M. 1'. Gentry, 
H. W. Milliard, 
F. G. McLean, 
A. G. Watkins, 
H. A. Builard. 
T. S. Hammond. 
A. H Sheppard, 
Ei mund Deberry, 
H. Mai shall. 
Daniel Breck, 
James L Johnson. 
J. B. Thompson, 
J. M. Anderson, 
John B. Kerr. 
J. P. Caluwell, 
Allen F. Owen."' 



Now, sir, remember the distinguished men who 
signed it, the phraseology used, and the warn- 
ing made in it, " That a renewal of sectional contro- 
versy upon the subject of Slavery ivould be both dan- 
fferouslothe Union and destructive to itsobjecis ;" and 
yet, Mr. Chairman, before the short space of four 
years has elapsed, some of the very men who 
had signed this celebrated pledge were open and 
violent in denouncing the North, and urging the 
passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, repeal- 
ing the Missouri Compromise Act. 

But, sir, before I speak more specifically re- 
specting the repeal of this time-honored act, I 
wish to call attention to the declaration of the 
President of the United States, as contained in 
his first annual message to Congress, in Decem- 
ber, 1853, in which he says: 






"It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any 

■ wiiH-i, i.k.v properly be regarded as set at rest by 

the deliberan- judgment ot' the people but while the 

11 with promise, and the future full of de- 

iuuucernent for the exercise of active intelU 



pence, the paste 



never l>8 without useful lessonsof ad- 



monition and instruction. It its dangers serve not as 

iheywill evidently fail to fulfil the objec ofa 

' Whi n the grave shall have closed over oil who 

are now endeavoring to meet the obligations oj duty, the year 

.g o , I rrcdtO as a period Jill. I With anxious ap- 

.„,., J successful war hud just terminated ; pur,' 

btoaxfel with it a vast augmentation ol territory, disturb- 

ine questions ar bearing upon the domestic institutions 

of one portion of the Confedercy, iiivolviiig the consul u- 
tioual rights of the Stales. But, notwithstanding differ. 
ences of opinion and sentiment which then existed, in 
- :ii.i specific provisions, the acquies- 
cence of distinguished citizens, whose devotion to the 
Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to 
our institutions, and restored a sense of repose and se- 
curitv to the public mind throughout the Conledenicy. 

| iSBlSTO SI M'l-K Ml SHOCK DURING MY OFFI- 

CIAL TERM, 1 1' I HAVE I'OWF.llTO AVERT IT. THOSE WHO PLACED 

KB HEBE MAY BE ASSURED. THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION 
WHICH THE VOICE OF FREEDOM WILL NOT PRONOUNCE UPON 
TO, SHOULD WE PROVE FAITHLESS TO THIS GREAT TRUST. 1 ' 

Oh ! sir, if these patriotic declarations had been 
adhered to, how much of bitter sectionalism 
would have been averted ! how many peaceful 
and' happy homes would have been saved ! how 
much of human suffering prevented ! — and, Oh ! 
sir how" many precious lives would have been 
saved. But, alas ! truth compels me to declare, 
that it was but a deceptive declaration — a figure 
of rhetoric. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, having shown what the 
professions of the leading men of the South were, 
and the present Administration in particular, I 
proceed to consider the causes which have led 
to the present deplorable state of things through- 
out the length and breadth of the country ; and 
•I charge that it is owing to the violation of the 
declarations and pledges to which I have refer- 
red, in the re-opening of the Slavery agitation in 
1854, by the repeal of the time-honored compact 
known "as the " Missouri Compromise Act," from 
which all of the present domestic troubles have 
arisen, and has well-nigh seriously strained the 
stability of the Union. 

In January, 1854, a bill was introduced into the 
United States Senate, by the Senator from Illinois, 
[Mr. DOUGLAS,] providing for the organization of 
the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, but it did 
not provide for the repeal of the Missouri restric- 
tion ; consequently, it was recommitted to the 
Committee on Territories, and the wishes of the 
South complied with, and an outrage perpetrated 
towards thefree North, that will never be forgotten, 
even if it should ever be forgiven, because it was 
conceived in political bad faith and repudiation, 
and consummated by political intrigue, corruption, 
and partisan rewards. When this bill, establish- 
in/ the Territorial Governments of Kansas and 
Nebraska, was passed, it was enacted that they 
should, when admitted as States, be admitted 
" with or without Slavery, as their Constitutions 
should provide." But this was not enough for 
the slaveholding States, and therefore the Mis- 
souri Compromise, which forbids Slavery forever 
north of 36° 30' north latitude ; that time-hon- 
ored compact, that bill of repose, for which the 
slaveholding States had received and secured 
forever their consideration ; that bill which was 



a Southern measure, passed by Southern votes, 
and claimed as a Southern victory; that bill 
which was forced by the South on the North. 

But, sir. although the North— wronged, as she 
fek herself to be, by its passage— respected it and 
acquiesced in it, still the South, with their few 
doughfaced allies at the North, repealed it, after 
it had beeu sanctioned for a period of over thirty 
years ; and this, too, be it remembered, without 
there being a single petition presented to Con- 
gress, asking for it, while public meetings were 
held throughout the country, denouncing the 
measure, and thousands and tens and hundreds 
of thousands of citizens remonstrated, in the 
most urgent manner, against its repeal ; but it 
was all in vain ; and then came the novel experi- 
ment of submitting the subject to the people who 
should come into the Territory. This was done 
to admit Slavery into the Territory, which rbat 
Compromise forbid ; and it the North ever sub- 
mits to its introduction, she will deserve to bear 
all the reproaches that the South heaps upon 
her. But of this I have no fear: While the peo- 
ple of the free States are not easily aroused at 
trifling things, yet, when repudiation of plighted 
faith stalks abroad, and the black flag of Sla- 
very hovers over the Territories once dedicated to 
Freedom by a solemn compact, and the thoughts 
of the oppression and degradation that follow in 
the train of this social and political curse, the 
free men of the free North, and free men from all 
climes, and all time to come, will arise and drive 
back the lawless invaders and their Border Ruf- 
fian army, and erect the star-spangled banner — 
that emblem of Freedom — where all men may go 
and partake of the benefits of our free institu- 
tions, as provided for by our forefathers, and in 
accordance with the letter, spirit, and intent of 
the Missouri Compromise Act. Well, sir, this 
breach of faith in the repeal of the Missouri Act 
was effected by making another plight of faith ; 
that is, by providing that the settlers of Kansas 
" should be perfectly free to form and regulate 
their domestic institutions in their own way." 

On the strength of this last clause, and relying 
on the fidelity of the Government of the United 
States, many people from the different States of 
the Union emigrated to and settled in Kansas ; 
and what has been the result ? Has the Executive 
or Congress kept their promise and executed that 
law ? No, sir ; it has not been done ; the facts 
disclosed by the report of the special committee 
sent to Kansas establish the fact, that, of the 
6,331 votes cast in March, 1855, for the elec- 
tion of the Legislative Assembly of Kansas, 
4,921 of them were cast by armed bands of the 
inhabitants of Missouri, who invaded Kansas for 
that purpose, on that occasion ; that only 1,4k} 
legal votes were cast, and a majority of those 
were for the Free State candidate, though most 
of the. Free State voters were driven from the 
polls. This invasion extended to all the Council 
districts, and to all the Representative districts 
but one, and elected and controlled a large ma-< 
jority of both Houses. The people in the Terri- 
tory have not been left free, but have had thei? 
homes invaded and subjugated ; and they are> 
and their institutions have been, controlled by 




the people of Missouri, the arms of that State I them of liberty nml destroy their property Under the 
have been used against the Free State emigrants '" ri " '" sherifi'e posse, armed bands of people from * in- 
going to Kansas, by the tyrannical laws passed enVauJHv«»°7n5 r ?„T™ y / r , i, ' a '!i i ' a . ke an / destroj prop- 
by that Assembly, and more tyrannically en- ^^^^^fc^KHK 

lorced by the officers by them appointed. The P*"; '"'''" harassed i scattered, and any a.tteropt at 

President of the United States has aided to en- ^,!f!- C ^. h ??- b 5??, T ! p r eS8ed b 7. ,he A'myohhe en- 
force these laws, passed by usurpation and fraud. 
The complaints and appeals of the people in said 
Territory have been made in vain ; their repre- 
sentations have been treated with indifference 
and neglect ; the property of the Free State peo- 
ple has been destroyed and stolen ; their build- 
ings have been burnt ; their printing offices have 
been suppressed, to prevent their making known 
the oppression, crimes, and atrocities, under 
which they were subjected ; the people have 
been hunted out, they have been hung, they have 

been murdered ; their cattle killed in their pres - re - u V , oni ' ed l ? be ? llovve,i - 

«„,.„. +u„„ u„™ v. j r " llt - "• -! 'e:iu ot this, ins now proposer! to roimiiinnatp 

they have been warned out, one alter the whole, by leaving usurp,, ,o„„, possession of its P "w* r 

d provide no security for those they imprison, oppress' 

,i ilunarcA h,,t .....{J. .1 1._ _ U '.'.. '' 



another, to leave the Territory ; they have been 
driven out of the Territory, by violence, in large 
numbers. Yes, Mr. Chairman, you may find them 
fleeing from the midnight blaze of their own 
dwellings. You may find their bones bleaching 
on the green fields of this new country. You may 
find them driven off to a returnless distance from 
their country and their homes. You may find some 
of them here, at the capital of the nation, this very 
'day, who have been indicted, by this mockery of 
justice in Kansas, for constructive treason, im- 
ploring the Executive and beseeching Congress 
to do something, so that they may be allowed to 
have afair and impartial trial, bya 'change of place 
of trial to St. Louis, or any other place, except in 
Kansas, where there is not the first principle of 
justice administered towards Free State men. 
They ask this, that they may be tried, and then 
return to their homes in Kansas. Well, sir, up 
to this time, no measure, except in this House, 
has been instituted to ferret out the wrong under 
which the Free State people in Kansas have suf- 
fered ; and, in my humble opinion, but for the 
sending out of the committee from this House, 
civil war would be now raging beyond the limits 
of the oppressed and outraged infant Territory of 
Kansas, and more bloody scenes would have been 
enacted outside than in said Territory. Fortu- 
nately, however, for humanity's sake, a majority 
of this House were true to the great principle 
at the formation of this Republic, which was to 
establish Liberty and Equality. 

Mr. Chairman, the people of Kansas, thus op- 
pressed and subjugated, have appealed to Con- 
gress for relief ; they have complained and strug- 
gled in vain. They have done as the people of 
the Territory of Michigan and California have done 
before them ; that is, formed a State Constitution, 
inviting all to participate therein, and presented 
the same to Congress for admission ; but all such 
attempts have but brought down on them the 
reproach of being traitors, and subverters of 
authority, and, in the language of the Senate's 
report : 



which have been committed with impuni y upon the F 
Mate people ot Kansas, would excite and arouse the deep- 
est sentiment of indignation. 

"It would seem to he demanded by a sense of common 
justice, and by what th s nation owes as w. .1 to the cans,. 

ot truth as to its own character and self-respect, that in- 
quiry should be mad.-, and usurpation be subdued and 
the public faith 1>» redeemed, by redressing all the wrongs 

produced by such means. This is not proposed, nor Is 
the law ot repose to be restored, or the Constitution al- 



" Abandoned to their oppressors, the Free State people 
of Kansas have been pursued by them in the same spirit 
which made the invasion. The acts of said Assembly 
have by their ofneers been made the color for all forms 
of political persecution and oppression. Indictments for 
construcuve treasons and prtiended nuisances deprive 



and disperse, but provide that those now there, and thos^ 
only, shall determine the definitive condition of that Terri- 
lory, by now forming: a Stale Constitution. Tins is but to 
encourage violence by rewarding it with success; that 
any result of such an experiment will produce definitive 
national peace and satisfaction, is to suppose the people of 
this country blind to the power of ordinary discernment 
or lost to eveiy sentiment of justice and humanity.'' 

This, Mr. Chairman, is a brief historical state- 
ment of the acts of outrage, violence, and crime 
that the poor unfortunate Free State people in 
Kansas have been compelled to submit to. 

Having thus spoken of the causes of the pres- 
ent crisis in domestic affairs, I proceed to con- 
sider the contemplated objects to be attained by 
the repeal of the " Missouri Compromise Act," 
which I believe to be the extension of human 
Slavery into Kansas and Nebraska. 

Down to the period of the commencement of 
the first Congress under General Taylor's Ad- 
ministration, when a small number of Representa- 
tives fron the South, led by two Representatives 
from Georgia, [Toomiss and Stephens,] defeated 
the re-election of Hon. Robert C. Winthrop as 
Speaker of this House, because he would not 
commit himself by a pledge on the subject of 
Slavery, such as no honorable man could give, 
the principles of the Missouri restriction had been 
voted for or approved of by most of the eminent and 
leading statesmen at the South. Even President 
Polk had approved of it, in the act organizing the 
Territory of Oregon. But from this period a new 
doctrine was proclaimed in behalf of the right of 
the Slave Power to extend Slavery into any of 
the Territories of the United States, on the ground 
of its existence prior to the adoption of the Con- 
stitution ; and therefore it is claimed that Sla- 
very is not dependent upon or subject to any of 
the provisions of the Constitution. "Well, sir, 
this is a little ahead of any higher law that I 
know of. I believe we have power over the sub- 
ject of Slavery in the Territories. So thought 
and so acted the Congress, in 1820, when the 
South passed the " Missouri Compromise Act," 
and when Charles Pinckney wrote the following 
letter, rejoicing over the result of its passage : 
" Congress Hall. March 3, 1820, 

" 3 o'clock at night. 
"Dear Sir: I hasten to inform you that this moment 
we have carrier the question to admit Missouri, and all 
Louisiana to the southward o( 3(5° 30'. free of the restric- 



of Slavery, and give the South, in a short time, an 

lion of six. perhaps eight; members to the Senate of 

li is considered here by the slave- 



acts establishing Territorial Governments over 
Wisconsin and Iowa, -which were approved by- 
Martin Van Buren. So thought the Congress of 
1348, in their act establishing a Territorial Gov- 
ernment over Oregon, which was approved by 
James K. Polk — Mr. Buchanan being a member 
era on lhfs°6ubject, under the Articles of Confed- of his Cabinet. So thought the Congress of 
eration were no greater than those of Congress 1853, in their act establishing a Territorial Gov 



tion 
atidii 

the United Plate 
holding States as a great triumph. 
-With re&peet, yoBr obedient 



rvant, 
CHARLES PINCKNEV"." 



So thought the Congress of 1784, whose pow- 



under the Constitution, when Thomas Jefferson, 
from the committee appointed to prepare a plan 
for the temporary government of the Western 
Territory, introduced the following resolutions, 
which were adopted : 

■■ That the settlers within the territory so to be purchased 
and offered for sale, shall, either on their own pennon, 
or on the order oi Congress, receive authority from them. 
with appointments of time and place, for their free males ol 
to meet together for the purpose of establishing 
•, temporary Government, to adopt the Constitution and 
,. & of these States, so that such laws never- 
theless shall he. subject to alteration by their ordinary 
me and to erect, subject to alike alteration, coun- 
ties or townships fur the election of members for their 
L uvii'iifure. , ' 

'•That such temporary Government shall only continue 
in force in any Stale until it shall have acquired twenty 
thoi sand free inhabitants, when, giving due proof thereof 
resSj they shall receive from them authority, with 
appointments of time and place, to call a convention ot 
entatives to establish a permanent Constitution 
and Government for themselves: Provided, That both 
ihe temporary and permanent Governments be estab 
lished on'these principles as their basis: 

••]. That they shall forever remain a part of the 
United States of America. 

• ?. That in their persons, property, and territory, they 
«hnll be subject to the Government ol" the United States 
in Congress nsz* mbled, and to the Aricles of Confeder- 
ation, in all those cases m which 'he original States shall 
he so subject. 

■•:). That ihey shall be subject 10 pay a part of the 
Federal debts contracted, or to be contracted, to be ap- 
portioned on them by Congress, according to the same 
common rule and measure by which rjpportionments 
the) eof shall be made on Hie other Slates. 

" 1. Thai their respective Governments shall be in re- 
publican !onns. and shall admit no person to be a citizen 
olds any hereditary title. 
■•.". Thai after the year 1800 of-fbe Christian era, there 
shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude in any 
of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, 
Wberepi the party shall have been duly convicted to 
have been personally guilty." 

This, Mr. Chairman, was Thomas Jefferson's 
view of the power of Congress over the subject 
of Slavery in 1784, not only in the Territories, 
but in the States to be formed out of the Terri- 
tories. So thought the Congress in 1*787, when 
the Ordinance of that date was adopted, exclu- 
ding Slavery from the Northwestern Territory. 
So thought the Congress of 1789, under the 
Constitution, who recognised and confirmed the 
Ordinance of 1787, which was approved by 
George Washington. So thought the Congress 
of 1800, who passed an act establishing a Terri- 
torial Government over the Territory of Indiana, 
which was approved by John Adams. So thought 
the Congress of 1805, in their act establishing a 
Territorial Government over Michigan. So 
thought the Congress of 1809, in their act es- 
tablishing a Territorial Government over Illi- 
nois; both of which last-named acts were ap- 
proved by Thomas Jefferson. So thought the 
Congress of 1834, in extending the jurisdiction 
of Michigan over Wisconsin and Iowa, which 
was approved by Andrew Jackson. So thought 
the Congresses of 1836 and of 1838, in their 



eminent over the Territory of Washington, ap 
proved by Millard Fillmore. In all of the afore- 
mentioned acts, the Slavery restriction or pro- 
viso of 1787 was incorporated, and Slavery ex- 
pressly prohibited. So thought Mr. Webster in 
1850, when he said " that these Compromises 
(1850) comprehend every inch of territory not 
disposed of by previous legislation." So thought 
the court, in the case of Jones vs. Van Zandt, 2 
McLean's Reports, 596. The court says: 

"Slavery exists only by virtue of the laws of the 
States where it is sanctioned; and if a slave escape from 
such State to a free Slate, he is free, according to the prin- 
ciples of the common law ; and recapture in a free Slate is 
authorized only by the Constitution and act of Congress. 
There is no general principle in the law of nations which 
requires such surrender." 

So thought the court in deciding the cele- 
brated case of Prigg vs. the State of Pennsylva- 
nia, 16 Peters, 540.' The court lays down these 
propositions : 

"By the law of nations, no State is bound to recognise' 
Slavery iri another State. It is a matter of comity, arid 
not a matter of inlcrnalioi al ritrht. The stale of Slavery 
is deemed to be a mere municipal regulation, Jounded 
upon, and limited to, the range of the territorial laws." 

So thought ex-President Fillmore irhen he 
wrote the following letter, although he note sus- 
tains a very different opinion: 

'■ Buffalo, October 17, 1833. 

"Sis: Your communication of the 13th instant, as chair- 
man of the eomiuiuee appointed by the • Anti-Slavery 
Society of the county of Erie.' has just come, to hand. 
You solicit my answer to the following interrogatories : 

"I. Do you be lieve that peiidons to Congress on ' he sub- 
ject of Slavery and the slave trade ought to be received, 
read, and respectfully considered, by the Representatives 
of the people? 

"11. Are you opposed lo the annexation of Texas to this 
Union, under any circumstances, so long as slaves are: 
hell therein? 

"III. Are you in favor of Congress exercising all the 
constitutional powers it possesses to abolish the internal 
slave trade between the Slates? 

"IV. Are you in favor of immediate legislation for the 
abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia? 

"Answer: lam much engaged, and have no time to 
ennrinto an argument or explain at length my reasons 
tor my opinions. 1 shall therefore content myself, for 
the present, by answering all your interrogatories in the 
affirmative, and leave for some future occasion a more 
extended discussion on the subject. 

"MILLARD FILLMORE." 

So thought ex-Chief Justice Greene C. Bron- 
son, of New York, one of the most distinguished 
jurists in the country, and a leading Democrat 
of the Hard school. In a letter dated July 15, 
1848, after declining an invitation to attend a 
political meeting, he says: 

"Slavery cannot exist, where there i< no positive law 
to uphold it. It i> not necessary lhal il should be forbid- 
den; it is enough that it is not specially authorized. If 
tne owner of slaves removes with or sends ihem into 
any country, State, or Territory, where Slavery does not 
exist by law. they will, from that moment, become free 
men, and will have as good a right lo command the mas- 
ter, as he will have to command them. State laws have 
no extra-territorial authority ; and a law of Virginia, 
which makes a man a slave there, cannot make him a 



slave in New York, nor beyond the Rocky Mount'-. ins. 

"Entertaining no doubt upon thai question, I can see 
no oc-asion for asking Coimress to legislate against tha 
extension of Slavery into free territory, and, as a ques- 
tion of policy. I think it had better be let alone If our 
Southern brethren wish to carry their slaves to Oregon. 
New Mexico, or California, they will be under the neces- 
sity of asking a law to warrant it ; and it will then be in 
time for the free States to resist the measure, as I cannot 
doubt they would, with unwavering firmness. 

''I would not needlessly move this question, as it is one 
of an exciting nature, whicn tends to sectional division, 
and may do us harm as a people. I would leave it to the 
slavehobling States to decide for themselves, and on their 
own responsibility, when, if ever, the matter shall be 
agitated in Congress. It may be that they will act 
wisely, and never move at all, especially as it seems pretty 
generally agreed that neither Oregon, New Mexico, nor 
California, are well adapted to slave labor. But if our 
Southern brethren should make the question, we shall 
have no choice but to meet it ; and then, whatever conse- 
quence- may follow. I trusi the peeple of the free States 
will give a united voice against allowing Slavery on a 
single foot of soil where it is not now authorized by law. 

"I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

'•GREENE C. BRONSON. 

" To Messrs J. Cochran and others, Committee." 

It is true that we are not asked to enact laws 
to warrant the holding of slaves in the Territo- 
ries, but we are called upon to admit that slaves 
may be rightfully held in the Territories without 
law. The very question is made in substance, 
which Judge Bronson said would leave the peo- 
ple of the free States no choice but to meet it, 
whatever consequences might follow. 

So thought Colonel Benton in 1854, when, 
speaking of the Compromise of 1820, he said 
that it ''was but a continuation of the same 
national feeling, the same national principles, 
that dictated the Compromise extending the line 
to the Territory which was then known as the 
Louisiana purchase." But, sir, what need of my 
quoting authorities to prove the power and prac- 
tice of Congress over the subject of Slavery in 
the Territories ? It is a power that has been ex- 
ercised by Congress from the adoption of the 
Constitution down to and including this very 
Congress. Sir, it is the grasping disposition of 
the South to extend Slavery into the Territories, 
and with it to rule the Government in the future, 
as it has done in the past, that we have to meet; 
and while I regret the necessity to enter into 
such a conflict, now that the South has reopened 
it with renewed bitterness, sectionalism, and vi- 
olence, I shall not shrink from any responsibility 
that it may impose upon me in combating it. 

Mr. Chairman, having presented such facts as 
I deem sufficient to establish the power of Con- 
gress over the subject of Slavery in the Terri- 
tories, I proceed to speak briefly of the opinions 
•and testimony of some of the fathers of the Re- 
public, and the ablest and most cherished of our 
recent statesmen, against the evils of Slavery 
and its further extension. In 1786, General 
Washington said: 

"I never mean, uniess some paTliculaT circumstance 
should compel me to it. to possess another slave by pur- 
chase, it being among my fir-i wishes to see -oiiie plan 
adop'ed by which Sin very in this country may be abolished 
by law." 

Said Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia: 

'■The whole commerce hetwet n master and slave is a 

continual exercise of the mo-: unremitting despotism on 

the one pan. and degrading submission on the other. - * 

With what execration should the statesman be loaded. 



who, permitting one-half of" the citizens thns to trample on 
the rights of the other, transforms those into dt spots and 
these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part and 
the amorpatria: ofthe other! Can the liberties of a natien 
be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm 
basis— a conviction in the minds of the people that thes ■ 
liberties are the gift ofGod — that they are not violated but 
by his wrath ? Indeed I In mkh ft r my country when I r t . 
fleet that God, is just, and his justice rammot sleep forever." 

In addition to this. I hold in my hand a copy 
of a letter written by Mr. Jefferson, only six 
weeks before his death, in which he reiterates all 
of his former opinions and views on t'ae subject 
of Slavery, and declares that, " living or dying, 
they will ever be in my most fervent prayers.'' 
I regard this letter as one of the most important 
and valuable of the papers left by Je'fferson. It 
reads as follows : 

'• MoftmcKtiio May 20, T*}6 

"Dear Sir: Persuasion, perseverance, and patienc. 
are the best advocates on questions depending upon the 
will ol others. The revolution in public opinion which 
this case requires is not to be expected in a day, or per- 
haps in an age; hut time, which outlives all th'ings. will 
outlive this evil ulso. My sentiments have been forty years 
before the public. Bat I repeated them forty times, they 
woidd have only become the more stale arid threadbare. Al- 
though I. shall not live to see them consummated, they will 
not die with me ; but living or dyiug, then trill ever be in my 
most fervent prayers. This is written for yourself, and not 
for the public, in compliance with your request for two 
lines of sentiment on the subject. 

•' Accept the assurance of mv good will and respect. 
"THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

'• Mr. James Heaton, Middletoion, Butler Co., OhioP 

In Mr. Webster's celebrated Marshfield speech, 
in 1848, he said : 

'•I fee! that there is nothing unjust, nothing of which 
any honest man can complain, if he is intelligent, and I 
feel that there is nothing of which the civilized world, 
if they take notice of so humble an individual as myself, 
will reproach me, when 1 say. as I said the other day, 
that I have made up my mind, for one, that under no cir- 
cumstances will I consent to the extension of the area of 
Slavery in the United States, or to the further increase of 
slave representation in the House of Representatives." 

And again, in 1850 : 

"Sir. wherever there is a particular good to be done — 
wherever there is a foot of land to be staid back from be- 
coming slave territory — I am ready to assert the principle 
ofthe exclusion of Slavery." 

Said the noble old statesman of Kentucky, 
Henry Clay, in 1850: 

" I have said that I never could vote for it myself; and 
I repeat, that I never can and never will vote, and no 
earthly power ever will make me vote, to spread Slavery 
over territory where it does not exist. " 

With this declaration of Mr. Clay I take my 
stand. It was my privilege to be one of his hum- 
ble but true supporters while living — even when 
Kentucky and the South forsook him in the Na- 
tional Convention at Philadelphia in 184S ; and 
now that he is dead, I revere his memory, and 
will defend his illustrious fame. 

Mr. Chairman, having spoken of the causes and 
objects of the Slave Power in the present crisis, 
and given the action of Congress, the decisions 
ofthe courts, and the opinions and views of Jef- 
ferson, Webster, Clay, Fillmore, Bronson, and 
Benton, respecting the power of Congress over the 
institution of Slavery, and its extension into the 
Territories, I beg the attention of the Committee 
for a short time, while I proceed to speak of the 
results ofthe acquisition of territory by the United 
States, and the manner of its disposal : 



1. COST OF TERRITORY PURCHASED. 



Territory of Louisiana (purchased 

of France in 1803) - 
[uteres! paid - 

Florida (purchased of Spain) 
Interest paid - 

Texas (for boundary) - 
Texas (for indemnity) - 
Texas (for creditors, last Congress) 
Indian expenses of all kinds, say - 
To purchase navy, pay troops, &c, 
All other expenditures 
Expense of the Mexican war 
Soldiers' pensions and bounty lands, 

&c, say 
Expenses of the Florida war, say - 
Soldiers' pensions, bounty lands, &c, 

say 

To remove Indians, suppress hostili- 
ties, &c, say - 
Paid by treaty, for New Mexico 
Paid to extinguish Indian tittles, say 
Paid to Georgia - - - - 



§15,000,000 

8,327,353 

5,000,000 

1,430,000 

10,000,000 

10,000,000 

7,75d, 0M0 

5,000,000 

5,000,000 

3,000,000 

217,175,575 

15,000,000 
100,000,000 

7,000,000 

5,000,000 

15,000,000 

100,000,000 

3,082,000 



832,764,928 



2. HOW HAS THE PURCHASED TERRITORY BEEN DI- 
VIDED ? 

From the territory thus purchased and paid 
for by all the States, Jive new slave States have 
been admitted, having the following extent of 
territory and representation in Congress : 

Senators. Reps. 
2 4 

2 7 

2 2 

2 1 



Five slave States 543,369 10 16 

The free States, if any, are yet to be admitted. 

. EXTENT, POPULATION, AND REPRESENTATION, OF 
THE FREE AND SLAVE STATES. 



Slates. 


Sq. miles 


1 Louisana - 


- 41,346 


2 Missouri - 


- 65,037 


3 Arkansas - 


- 52,191 


4 Florida 


- 59,268 


5 Texas 


- 325,369 



Free States. Sq. miles. 


Population. 


Sen. 


Rep. 


1 New York - 


46,000 


3,048,325 


2 


33 


2 Pennsylvania 


47,000 


2,258,100 


2 


25 


3 Ohio - 


39,964 


1,955,050 


2 


21 


4 Massachusetts 


7,250 


985,450 


2 


11 


5 Indiana 


33,809 


977,154 


2 


11 


6 Illinois 


55,409 


846,034 


2 


9 


7 Maine 


35,000 


581,813 


2 


6 


8 New Jersey - 


6,851 


405,509 


2 


5 


9 Michigan 


56,243 


395,071 


2 


4 


10 Connecticut- 


4,750 


363,099 


2 


4 


11 N.Hampshire 


8,030 


317,456 


2 


3 


12 Vermont 


8,000 


313,402 


2 


3 


13 Wisconsin - 


53,924 


304,756 


2 


3 


14 Iowa 


50,914 


191,881 


2 


2 


15 R. Island - 


1,200 


143,875 


2 


2 



Fifteen States 454,344 13,347,035 30 142 
(Omitting California, as before.) 



Slave States. 

1 Virginia 

2 Kentucky 

3 Tennessee 



4 Missouri 

5 N. Carolina - 

6 Georgia 

7 Alabama 

8 Maryland - 

9 Mississippi - 

10 Louisiana - 

11 S. Carolina - 

12 Arkansas - 

13 Texas 

14 Delaware - 

15 Florida 



Sq. miles. 
61,352 
37,680 
44,000 
65,037 
45,500 
58,000 
50,722 
11,000 
47,151 
41,346 
28,000 
52,198 
325,520 
2,120 
59,268 



Population. Sen. Rep. 



894,800 
761,413 
756,836 
592,004 
553,028 
521.572 
426.514 
417,943 
295,718 
255,491 
274,563 
162,189 
154,034 
71,169 
47,203 



13 

10 

10 

7 



Fifteen States 928,894 6,184,404 30 



90 



POPULATION. 

Fifteen free States contain - - 13,347,035 
Fifteen slave States contain - - 6,184,404 

TERRITORY. Sq. miles. 

Fifteen slave Sates contain - - 928, S94 
Fifteen free States contain - - 454,344 

Difference - 474,556 

The fifteen slave States have now above five 
times the extent of territory, according to 
population, that the free States have. Including 
slaves and all, they have about three times the 
territory of the free States, according to popula- 
tion. 

Sq. miles. 
Nine slave States have been added, con-' 

taining 722,922 

Six free States have been added, con- 
taining 290,264 



Difference - 



432,658 



I have given the cost of the purchased terri- 
tories, the disposition of the same, the population 
of the free and slave States, together with the 
extent of the entire territory embraced in said 
States in the Union, omitting California, as she 
was admitted without cost, and I may say by ac- 
cident. It is also true, she was admitted as a free 
State, but her Senators and Representatives soon 
learned in whose hands the power of this Gov- 
ernment is held, and have ever been, politically, 
the allies of the slave States ; California '• forms 
no part of the territory where the struggle for 
and against the extension of Slavery has been 
carried on." I now.submit a statement of 



THE SLAVE POWER. 



States. 
Alabama 
Arkansas 
Delaware 
Florida 
Georgia 
Kentucky 
Louisiana 
Maryland 
Mississippi 



Slaveholders 
in each. 

- 29,295 

- 5,999 

809 

- 3,250 

- 38,456 

- 38,385 

- 20,670 

- 16,040 
. 23,116 



Missouri 19,1S5 

North Carolina 2S,303 

South Carolina 25,596 

Tennessee ------ 33,8G4 

Texas 7,747 

Virginia ------ 55,063 

Total 340,047 

'"Thus ii will be seen that the number of slave-owners, 
including men, women, am! children, is only about three 
hundred and forty-six thousand, and the free white popu- 
lation over six millions, in the slaveStal-es — or only about 
one in twenty of the white population in the slave States 
are slave-owners. Yet this small number, by a union of 
interest, avid by the political importance ?iven to Slavery, 
rule these States absolutely aid despotically; the great 
majority of the people — a majority of nearly twenty to 
one — are never heard of. and have no more power in those 
Stales, politically, than the slaves its aristocratic rulers 
own! This is truly astonishing! But the condition of 
the General Government is more so. The it&v population 
of the Union is about twenty millions- The slave-owners 
now number some three hundred ami forty-six thousand. 
For the past sixiy-years, their numbers would average 
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand ; yet 
the General Government is in their hands, and lias been 
for the pa* t fifty years, when the majority against them in 
the Union is as sixty to one ; still they hold the power, and 
the Government is directed and controlled by them, and 
has been almost ever since it has been in operation. And 
during all that time, more than one-hnlf of all the import- 
ant offices of die Government — audi believe nearly two- 
thirds of those offices — have been filled by s aveholders, to 
the exclusion of ihe gnat mass of the people of the 
United States!" 

The five purchased slave States of Florida, 
Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri, contain 
543,369 square miles. 

The whole fifteen free States contain 454,344 
square miles. 

The territory added to the slave States, by 
purchase, is larger than all the fifteen free States, 
by 89,025 square miles. 

This excess is a larger territory than is con- 
tained in seven of the free States. And this was nil 
purchased to extend Slavery, while the free States 
admitted have been formed out of territory be- 
longing to the United States when the Govern- 
ment was established, and to which the Ordi- 
nance of Jefferson and of Freedom, prohibiting 
Slavery, was. applied by the fathers of the Repub- 
lic. 

REPRESENTATION*. 

The fifteen free States have 13,000,000 of 
free white inhabitants, the fifteen slave States 
6,000,000, yet each have thirty Senators. True, the 
small States are entitled to two Senators each, as 
well as the larger ones ; but this number of slave 
States extended over a large territory, with a 
small population, makes the disproportioned rep- 
resentation of the two sections in the Senate too 
palpably unjust. In Senators, the slave States have, 
lil this system, kept up a representation in the pro- 
portion (J/two to one as against the free Stales. 

In the House, the slave States have ninety 
members, representing 6,000,000 of population ; 
the free Slates one hundred and forty-two mem- 
bers, representing 13,000,000. Upon the same 
ratio with the slave States, the free States should 
have owe hundred and ninety-five numbers — a loss 
to them of fifty-three in the popular branch of 
the Government — that in which the popular voice 
is to be heard, and the popular will expressed. 



South Carolina has six Representatives, with a 
free white population of 274,503. 

New Hampshire has three Representatives, with 
a free white population of 317,456. 

Vermont has three Representatives, with a free 
white population of 313,402. 

Vermont and New Hampshire, with a popula- 
tion of 030,858, have six Representatives. 

South Carolina has six also, with only 274,503 
less by 356,295 — not one-half as much. 

At the ratio of South Carolina representation, 
these free States should have fourteen Represent- 
atives, instead of six. Is there not a wide differ- 
ence in the political rights of these States ? 

Three Congressional districts in New York 
contain a larger free white population than the 
State of South Carolina ; yet this is the State 
that is going to force Slavery into Kansas — the 
one that has so often complained of the hardships 
of remaining one of the United States, and 
threatened disunion ! 

Votes of eleven slaveholding States at the election of 
1852, when Mr. Pierce was chosen, as contrasted 
ivith the vote of Neio York. 

1. Arkansas ----- 19,577 

2. Delaware 12,673 

3. Florida 7,193 

4. Georgia 51,365 

5. Maryland ----- 75,153 

6. North Carolina - - - - 78,861 

7. Texas ------ 18,547 

8. Alabama 41,919 

9. Louisiana - - - - - 35,902 

10. Mississippi 44,424 

11. Virginia 129,545 



Aggregate vote of eleven States 515,159 
Vote of New York - - - 522,294 
Being 7,135 votes more than all the others. 

These eleven States, (Virginia included,) that 
gave in 1852 a less vote than New York for Pres- 
ident, have twenty-two Senators — New York has 
only tivo ! 

Slaveholders have political advantages denied 
to all other men ! A man who owns one thou- 
sand slaves has the same political power over his 
slave property as six hundred inhabitants in the 
free States. His power is superior to that of most 
of the voters in a town of ordinary size. He has 
besides, individually, the same political power as 
the richest man in a free State. This additional 
right — six hundred strong — is solely in considera- 
tion of his owning one thousand slaves as prop- 
erty I 

Mr. Chairman it will be seen by the foregoing 
statements that the cost of territory purchased 
is $832,764,928. Out of all this territory 
purchased, but one free State (Iowa) has been 
admitted. 

Mr. Clay admitted this, in his speech made in 
the Senate in 1850. (See Appendix to Globe, 
vol. 22, page 126.) He said: 

" What have been the acquisitions made by this country, 
and to what interests have they conduced? Florida, 
where Slavery exists, has been introduced. All the most 
valuable part of Louisiana has also been added to the ex- 
tent and consideration of the slaveholding portion of the 
Union. 



" AH Louisiana, with the exception of what lies north 
of ». 

"All Texas; all the Territories which have been ac- 
quired by the Government, during sixty years of the ope- 
ration of i'.kii Government, have been slave Territories; 
theatre of Slavery, with the exception I have mentioned, 
lying north 36 10 

Not one inch of territory has ever been pur- 
chased or acquired of any foreign Power, since 
the Constitution was adopted, at the instance of 
the free States, or which was intended for their 
benefit. 

Yet the free States have paid more than two- 
thirds of the entire cost of all these acquisitions 
of territory, and the consequent expenditures 
since incurred. They have borne their full share 
in the wars which led to or resulted from these 
acquisitions, in the expenditure of money, and in 
the sacrifice of human life. 

Mr. Chairman, I have now finished this branch 
of my remarks, and^proceed to consider, during 
the short time left me, the influences of Slavery, 
as illustrated by the acts of the bogus Legisla- 
ture of Kansas, the wrongs and oppression 
inflicted on the Free State people in Kansas, in 
this House, and in this city. 

Section 13 (page 378) of the laws passed by 
the Pro-Slavery bogus Legislature of Kansas ex- 
cludes all but Pro-Slavery men from the jury-box, 
in all cases relating directly or indirectly to Sla- 
very. Here it is : 

'•No person who is conscientiously opposed to the holding 
slaves, or j/rhodees not admit the right to hold slaves in 
this Territory, shall he a juror in any cause in winch the 
right to hold any person in slavery is involved, nor in any 
cause in which any injury done to or committed by any 
slave is in issue, nor in any criminal proceeding for the 
violation pi any law enacted for the protection of slave 
properly, a; d for the punishmeuitoffrwwe committed against 
the right to such property." 

Again : The organic law organizing Kansas pro- 
vides, in section 30, that the official oath to be 
taken by the Governor and Secretary, the Judges, 
" and all other civil officers in said Territory," shall be, 
" to support the Constitution of the United States, 
and faithfully to discharge the duties of their 
respective offices." No more, no less. But the 
legislators of Kansas, with the same disregard of 
the Congressional law that marked their other 
acts, enacted another kind of official oath, on 
page 438 of their code, a3 follows : 

"Sec I. A ! ■Jlicers elected or appointed under any exist- 
ing or subsequently- enacted laws ot this Territory,' Fhall 

take and subscribe the following oalh of office : "I 

dp solemnly swea^ upon, the holy Evangelists of Almighty 
God. that 1 will support the Constitution of the United 
States, and thai 1 will support anil sustain the provisions 
of an act entitled 'An act io organize the Terriloriesol 
Nebraskaam Kansas,' and tfle provisions ot the law of 
the 1 ruted States commonly known as the 'Fugitive 
Slave I aw,' and faithfully and impartially, and to the best 
of my ability, demean myself in the discharge of my duties 
in the office of , so help me God." 

You cannot fail to notice that, in this new oath, 
framed by the bogus Legislature, the Fugitive 
Slave Law is elevated to a "higher law ""than 
the Constitution ; for the officer is merely to 
"support" the latter, but is required to sweat- 
that he will " support and sustain" the other. 

On pages 604 and 605, chapter 151, will be 
found " An act to punish offences against slave 
property." It is in violation of the Constitution 



of the United States. Section 12 of that chapter 
reads : 

"If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert 
or maintain that persons hare not the right to hold slaves in 
this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, 
publish, write, circulate, or cause to be introduced into 
this Territory, written, printed, published or circulated, 
in this Territory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, 
or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons 
to hold slaves in this Territory — such person shall be 
deemed guilty of F-.j.oNY. and punished by imprisonment 
at hard la 1 . or for a term of not less than two years." 

Again : In violation of the Constitution of the 
United States, " abridging the freedom of the 
press," is the 11th section of the same law in the 
Kansas code, page 605 : 

"If any person print, write, introduce into, publish, or 
circulate, or cause to be brought into, printed, written, pub- 
lished, or circulated, or shall knowingly aid or assist in 
bringing into, printing, publishing, or circulating, within 
this Territory, any book, paper, pamphlet,' magazine, hand- 
bill, or circular, containing any statements, arguments, 
opinion, sentiment, doctrine, advice, or innuendo, calcula- 
ted \o produce a disorderly, dangerous, or rebellious disaf- 
fection among the slaves in this Territory, or to induce 
such slaves to escape from the service of their masters, 
or to resist their authority — ha shall be guilty of felony, 
and be punished by imprisonment and hard labor for a 
term not less than five years." 

And, under this atrociously unconstitutional 
provision, a man who "brought into" the Ter- 
ritory of Kansas a copy of " Jefferson's Notes on 
Virginia," which contains an eloquent and free- 
spoken condemnation of Slavery, could be con- 
victed by one of "Sheriff Jones's" juries as 
having introduced a "book" containing a "sen- 
timent" "calculated" to make the slaves "die- 
orderly," and sentenced to five years' hard labor. 

On page 325, section 12, of this same law, 
there is a singular provision : 

" If the plaintiffbe a negro or mulatto, he is required to 
prove his right to freedom." 

On page 282 is the following: 
"Sec. 11. Every five white male citizen of the United 
States, and every free male Indian who is made a citizen 
by treaty or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-one 
years, who shall bean inhabitant of this Territory, and 
of the county or district in which he offers to vote, and 
shall have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified 
elector for all elective offices. And all Indians who are 
inhabitants of this Territory, and who may have adopted 
the customs of the white man, and who are liable to pay 
taxes, shall be deemed citizens: Provided, That no sol- 
dier, seaman, or marine, in the regular army or navy of 
the United States, shall be entitled to vote, by reason of 
being on service therein : And provided, further, That no 
person who shall have been convicted of any violation 
of any provision of an act of Congress, entitled 'An act 
respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping 
from the service of their masters.' approved February 12, 
1793; or of an act to amend and supplementary to said 
act. approved lBth September, l!-50— wl ether such con- 
viction were by criminal proceeding or by civil action, 
tor the recovery of any penalty prescribed by either of 
said acts, m any courts of the United States, or of any 
Sute or Territory, of any offence deemed infamous— shall 
be entitled to vole at any election, or to hold any office in 
this Territory: And provided, further. That if am rerson 
offering to vote shall be challenged and required to take 
an oath or affirmation, to be administered by one of the 
judges or the election, that he will sustain the provisions 
ot ihe above-recited acts of Congress, and ofthe act enti- 
tled 'An act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and 
Kansas, 1 approved May 30. lb'54, and shall refuse to take 
such oath or affirmation, the vote of such person shall be 
rejected." 

Merely being an " inhabitant," if the person is 
in favor of the Nebraska bill and of the Fugitive 
Slave Law, qualifies him as a voter in all the 
elections of the Territory affecting National or 



9 



Territorial politics. The widest possible door is 
opened for the invaders to come over and carry 
each successive election as "inhabitants" for 
the time being of the Territory. But, turn to 
page 750, and notice the following provision, 
(section 8,) defining the qualifications of voters 
at the petty corporation elections of Lecompton : 

' ; All free white male citizens who have arrived to the 
full age of twenty-one years, and who shall lie entitled to 
vote ibr Territorial officers, and who shall have resided 
within the city limits at least six months next preceding 
any election, and, moreover, who shall have paid a ciiy 
tax or any city license according to ordinance, shall he 
eligible to vole at any ward or ciiy election Ibr officers 
oi'the ciiy/' 

Being an inhabitant a day clothes a person 
with the right to vote for Delegates in Congress 
and Representatives in the Legislature; but to 
vote at an insignificant election, in comparison, 
six months' residence is required ! Am I wrong- 
in judging that this inverting the usual rule 
shows that Missourians are wanted at the one 
election, but not at the other? If any one deems 
this opinion unjust, let him study the following- 
sections of the General Election Law, page 283 : 

"Sec. 19. Whenever any person shall offer to vote, he 
shall be presumed to be entitled Ui vote. 

"Sec. 20. Whenever any person offers to vote, his 
vote may he challenged by one of the judges, or by any 
voter, and the judges of the election may 'examine him 
touching his right to vote ; and if so examined, no evi- 
dence TO CONTRADICT SHALL BE RECEIVED." 

These provisions explain themselves without 
comment. 

Section 5 of the act punishing offences against 
slave property, (page 604,) enacts as follows : 

"If any person shall aid or assist in enticing, decoying, 
ot persuading, or carrying away, or sending out of tliis 
Territory, any slave belonging to unotlier. witli intent to 
procure or effect the freedom of such slave, or with intent 
to deprive the owner thereof of t lie sef vices of such slave. 
he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny; and on con- 
viction thereof shall suffer death, or be imprisoned at hard 
labor for not less than ten years." 

Time will not permit me to go further into 
these Kansas laws, which Senator Clayton de- 
clared to be an outrage upon "the rights of the 
people and the civilization of the age in which 
we live," while the Detroit Free Press, the organ 
of General Cass," declared : 

"But the President should pause long before trea'.ing 
as 'treasonable insurrection' the action of those inhabit- 
ants of Kansas who deny the binding authority of the 
Missouri-Kansas Legi<Iature ; for, in our humble opinion, 
u people that would not be inclined to rebel against the 
acts of a legislative body forced upon them by fraud and 
violence, would be unworthy the ttamecf American. If there 
was ever justifiable cause for popular revolution against a 
usurping and obnoxious Government, that caust has existed 
in Kansas." 1 

But, sir, notwithstanding this appeal, the Pres- 
ident of the United States has declared, in his 
special message to Congress, in his proclama- 
tion, and in his orders to Governor Shannon 
and Colonel Sumner, through his Secretary of 
State and Secretary of War, that this code of 
Territorial laws shall be enforced by the full 
exercise of his power. He knows of their pro- 
visions. He knows these laws are in violation 
of the organic law organizing the Territory, 
which he signed. He knows they are in viola- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States, 
which he and we have sworn to support ; and 



yet, on the 27th of January last, in his special 
message to Congress, he said : 

"Our system affords no justification of revolutionary 
acts; for the constitutional means of relieving ihe people 
of unjust administrations and laws, by a change of public 
agents and by repeal, aei: ample." 

Again: In his speech, as reported in the Union, 
of June 10th, made to the Buchanan ratification 
meeting, who marched to the White House, he 
coolly told them: 

'There will be, on your part, no appeal to unworthy 
passions, no inflammatory calls tor a second n volution, 
like those which are occasionally reported ;i - coming 
from men who have received nothing at the hands of 
their Government but protection and political blessings, 
no declaration of resistance to the laws ol the lai I. 

But, Mr. Chairman, I will not stop to allude 
to the "protection and political blessings" which 
the people of Kansas have received from the 
" hands of their Government." Let the free citi- 
zens, driven from Kansas, with the sound of ar- 
tillery ringing in their ears, and the light of their 
burning habitations flashing upon their eyes, as 
they turned to look back to the homes where 
they had been forced to leave their wives and 
children at the mercy of worse than barbarian 
foes, answer 1 Let the innocent blood of Dow, 
Barber, and Brown, and other murdered free- 
men, that has stained the soil of Kansas, rise up 
and bear witness against these false charges of 
the President of the United States ! 

The Democratic Convention at Cincinnati de- 
nounced "treason and armed resistance to these 
laws" in a marked and special manner. If there 
was any doubt as to the object of this declara- 
tion, the speech of the Senator from Illinois, 
[Mr. Douglas,] at the ratification meeting in 
this city, a short time since, removes it. The 
Washington Union of June 10th contained these 
extracts of that Senator's speech : 

"The plaiform was equally explicit in reference lo the 
disturbances in relation lo the Tenuory o' Kansas It de- 
clared treason was lo be punished, and resistance to the 
laws was to be put down. * * * 

"He rejoiced that ihe Convention, by a unanimous vote, 
had approved of the creed that law must and shall prevail. 
[Applause] He rejoiced that we had a standard-nearer 
[Mr. Buchanan] with so much wisdom and nerve as to 
enforce, a firm and undivided execution of thost laws. n 

This, Mr. Chairman, leaves no room to doubt 
as to the course of policy to be pursued by the 
Democratic party towards Kansas. I confess, 
sir, that on the announcement of the nomination 
of Mr. Buchanan at Cincinnati, I entertained 
some hope that he would rise above the party 
shackles of the day, and use his power and in- 
fluence in restoring peace and order in Kansas. 

But these hopes were of short duration. On 
the 9th of June last, he made the following 
speech at Wheatland, which I copy entire from a 
leading Democratic paper, published at Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania : 

Speech of Mr. Buchanan. 

"Lancaster, Pa., June 9, 1S5G. 

"The Keystone Club of Philadelphia, accompanied by 
Beck's Brass Band, arrived here on Sunday, at 11 o'clock, 
A. M., and this morning paid a visit lo the Hon James 
Buchanan, at Wheatland, accompanied by a procession 
of citizens, lo the number of two or three hundred. Upon 
their arrival at Wheatland, Win. B. Rankin, Esq., Presi- 
dent of the club, was introduced to .Mr Buchanan, and 
said that on behalf of the Keystone Club, over which he 
had the honor of presiding, he congratulated him as the 



10 



nation's choice, adding, that the work which was but be- 
-iiii. the) intended to carry on until vieiory should crown 
their efforts. Mr. Buchanan replied as follows: 

G ;i.i.mkn OJ? the Keystone Club: I give you a 
most hearty and warm welcome to my abode. I con- 
gratulate you. not upon my nomination, but upon the glo- 
rious privilege of being citizens of our great Republic. 
y.iur superiority over the people of other countries has 
been fully demonstrated by the conduct of a vast con- 
course assembled during the past week at Cincinnati 

I I similar occasion in Europe, the voluntary ex- 

pression of the people would have been drowned in mar- 
tial music, and their actions controlled by an army with 
bann< rs How unlike,the spectacle at Cincinnati, where 
delegates from the peopl? of the different States met in 
convention, under protection of the Constitution and laws, 
and harmoniously deliberated upon subjects of vital im- 
portance to the country. Gentlemen, two weeks since I 
should have made you a longer speech, but now 1 have 
been placed upon a platform, ofwhivh I most heartily o/<- 
prove, and that ran speak for vie. Being the representative 
of the threat JJtmocratic party, and not simply James Bu- 
chanan, I must square my conduct according to the platform 
of iftat party, and insert no new plank, nor take one from it. 
That platform is sufficiently broad and nalionalfor the whole 
Democratic party. This glorious parly now more than 
ever, has demonstrated that it is the true conservative 
party of the Constitution and of the Union. 1 

" Philadelphia, Pa., June 9, P. M. 

"The Keystone Club arrived in this city this evening. 
They were met at West Philadelphia by a deputation of 
citizens, who, with music, escorted them through the 
principal streets, the procession increasing in numbers 
until the ranks numbered 2,0L0. A salute of fifty guns 
was fired." 

Again : In his speech at Baltimore, on the oc- 
casion of his recent public reception in that city, 
he said: 

"We have already reached and almost passed the dan- 
gerous crisis on the subject of domestic Slavery. The 
volcano is nearly exhausteJ. The maierial for continued 
agitation no longer exists. And why J Because I hold it 
to be quite impossible that any considerable portion of our 
people can long continue to contest the elementary repub- 
lican principles recognised in the Territorial legislation 
of Congress." 

Well, sir, here we have him square on the 
Cincinnati platform; no longer James Buchanan, 
but merged into and "square" to this platform, 
which declares : "The American Democracy rec- 
ognise and adopt the principles contained in the 
organic laws establishing the Territories of Kan- 
sas and Nebraska, as embodying the only sound 
and safe solution of the Slavery question; that 
this was the basis of the Compromise of 1850." 
I have shown what the organic laws establishing 
these Territories were. I have also shown the 
violation of them by the bogus Legislature of 
Kansas, and their approval by the President, and 
no,v by the Democratic Cincinnati Convention. 
I have also shown the declaration and pledge of 
the Senators and Representatives in Congress in 
1850, and its full endorsement by the President, 
in his first annual message to Congress in 1853. 
I have also shown the faithlessness in the Presi- 
dent and his supporters in adhering to these 
pledges. I have also shown the repudiation of 
all these professions and pledges by the Presi- 
dent and his supporters ; and with this expose" I 
leave him and them to reflect on their inconsist- 
ency and wrong, which he and they have inflict- 
ed on the rights of the people and the stability 
of the institutions of the country. 

Mr. Chairman, in passing to the consideration 
of other topics, I deem it proper to call the atten- 
tion of the House to the state of affairs in the 
State of California, and the conduct of the Pres- 



ident of the United States in relation to the same. 
It is as well known as it is disgraceful to the 
nation, that a state of insubordination and an- 
archy has existed in that sovereign State for 
mouths; and that, instead of the laws of that 
State, or of the United States, being enforced 
there, a self-constituted committee has usurped 
the liberties of the people, set aside the ministers 
of the law, and taken the administration and the 
execution of their self-enacted laws into their 
own hands. The legally-constituted authority 
of that State, by their Governor, has applied to 
the President of the United States for aid to en- 
force the laws, and restore order in California; 
but the appeal has been denied, and no one can 
now tell when order and the majesty of the law 
will again be restored in that unfortunate State. 
I enter into no speculation as to who is right or 
wrong for the existing state of things in Califor- 
nia, or upon the motives of the President and big 
advisers, in refusing aid to the constituted au- 
thorities of that State, to put down the insurrec- 
tionists, and to restore peace and order. But I 
wish to say that his conduct in this case is very 
unlike that which he has caused to be enforced 
on the Free State men in the infant Territory of 
Kansas, in the execution of the bogus and un- 
constitutional laws passed by the bogus and 
illegal Legislature of that Territory. 

Mr. Chairman, I now beg the attention of the 
Committee to the consideration of the 

ARROGANCE AND SECTIONAL INFLUENCE OP SLAVERY. 

During the long contest, at the commencement 
of the present session of Congress, for the elec- 
tion of Speaker, a leading and distinguished mem- 
ber from Alabama [Mr. Walker] proclaimed : 
" Members from the North seem to think that the 
reason why the South has had so large a share 
in our governmental operations, lies in the insti- 
tution of Slavery. I tell them they are mistaken ; 
it lies behind that institution. It is to be found 
in the administrative faculty belonging to the 
early settlers of the South — the Cavaliers and 
Huguenots — and which their descendants have 
inherited." Well, sir, I rejoice in the boldness 
of this boast of superiority of birth and blood. 
I respect and honor the frank expression of one's 
sentiments, as thus given ; but I tell the gentle- 
man that he is mistaken in the true character of 
the people of the North. True, they have not 
enjoyed the advantage of experience that the 
people of the South have in the governmental 
affairs of the Government, but this is solely ow- 
ing to the sectional and aggressive demands of 
the Slave Power. But, sir, the people of the 
North will not longer remain under this vain and 
boasting charge ; they intend to demand and ex- 
pect to receive and take their fair and just propor- 
tion of the responsibilities in the administration of 
this Government. They commenced this policy 
in the election of Speaker Banks, without, I re- 
gret to say, the aid of a single vote from a slave 
State. Yet such is the power of Slavery, that 
even Representatives have to bow to its demands 
and behests, or to go into private life. 

If the people of the North are true to them- 
selves, true to the best interests of the country, 



11 



true to the Constitution and Union, as I know 
them to be, they will take the affairs of this Gov- 
ernment into their own hands on the 4th of March 
next ; and then the gentleman from Alabama 
will have an opportunit}' of witnessing the honor, 
capacity, and justice, of the people of the North, 
to administer the affairs of the Government. 

I know, Mr. Chairman, that the South sneer 
at the people of the North, and proclaim that, 
although they are the descendants of the Puri- 
tans of Plymouth Rock, and admit that the sods 



American citizen, at home and abroad ; that en- 
courages commerce, that twin-sister of civiliza- 
tion, that encourages emigration ; that contributes 
•• labor, capital, art, valor, and enterprise, to per- 
fect and embellish our ever-widening empire." 
These sir, are the aims and trophies of Freedom 
and Progress. Now, sir, may I not ask, What 
are the aims and trophies of the institution of 
Slavery ? Is it not sectional and aggressive ? Is 
it not a cmel, relentless tyranny ? Does it not le- 
galize " chattel slavery"— that " execrable coin- 



of Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill, and I merce," as Jefferson called it, "that makes mer 



Saratoga, and Monmouth, and Trenton, and Val 
ley Forge, are their forefathers' sepulchres, in 
fighting the battles and in achieving the liberties 
of the country, yet they are only considered an 
industrious and money-making people, disquali- 
fied for administrative positions — fit subjects, I 
suppose they think, to be the hewers of wood and 
the drawers of water for the South. 

Again: The honorable gentleman from Ala- 
bama continues : " Why, sir, I might ask, What 
great sentiment, what great governmental prin- 
ciple, originated at the North?" I answer the 



chandise of immortality; that smites the earth 
with barrenness ; that blasts the human intellect, 
and blights the human heart; that maddens the 
human brain, and crushes the human soul ; that 
crime which puts out the light and hushes the 
sweet voices of home, shatters its altars ami 
scatters darkness and desolation over its hearth- 
stone ; that system which recognises the tearing 
away of joyful children from their mothers' arms, 
and selling them into eternal exile, without having 
anything to say in the premises ; that system 
which dooms men to live without knowledge, to 



gentleman's question with great pleasure and toil without reward, to die without hope ; that 



satisfaction. The great " sentiment" of the 
North is Freedom, and their " governmental 
principle" Progress. With these principles she 
started in the great race on this Continent. In the 
very year the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plym- 
outh Rock, slaves landed in Virginia; and, in the 
language of the eloquent gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts, " Freedom has gone on, trampling down 
barbarism, and planting States — buildingthe sym- 
bols of its faith by every lake, and every river, 
until now the sons of the Pilgrims stand by the 



system which sends little children to the sham- 
bles ; " and, let me add, that system, which cus- 
tom sanctions, of fathers selling their own chil- 
dren into Slavery. 

Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I charge that Sla- 
very is not only sectional and aggressive, but that its 
social influence is corrupt and dangerous to the best in- 
terests of the communilg in which it exists. Why, sir, I 
have but to call the attention of the Committee to 
what has transpired in this House and in this city, 
since the commencement of the present session 



shores of Pacific. Slavery has also made its of Congress, to establish these charges to the con- 



way toward the setting sun. It has reached the 
Rio Grande on the South ; and the groans of its 
victims, and the clank of its chains, may be 
heard, as it slowly ascends the western tributa- 
ries of the Mississippi river. Freedom has left 
the land bespangled with free schools, and filled 
the whole heavens with the shining towers of reli- 
gion and civilization. Slavery has left desola- 
tion, ignorance, and death, in" its path. When 
we look at these things ; when we see what the 
country would have been, had Freedom been 
given to the Territories; when we think what 
it would have been but for this blight in the 
bosom of the country ; that the whole South — 
that fair land God has blessed so much — would 
have been covered with cities, and villages, and 
railroads, and that in the country, in tne place 
of twenty-five millions of people, thirty-five mil- 
lions would have hailed the rising morn, exulting 
in Republican Liberty — when we think of these 
things, how must every honest man, how must 
every man with brains in his head or heart in 
his bosom, regret that the policy of old Virginia, 
in her better days, did not become the animating 
policy of this expanding Republic !" 

FREEDOM AXD r-ROGRESS. 

Sir, that develops the material resources of the 
country; that builds railroads and canals; that 
prot'jets and respects the labor of every citizen 
of the country; that protects the rights of every 



viction of every candid and impartial mind. In 
this House there are three political parties — Dem- 
ocratic, Republican, and American. At the Con- 
gressional caucus of the Democratic party, a res- 
olution was adopted, denouncing the American 
party, and proclaimingits adherence to the Kansas 
and Nebraska act. Well, sir, you and this House, 
and the country, know the long and bitter strug- 
gle that ensued, before the election of a Speaker ; 
the denunciations that were uttered by the Demo- 
crats against the Americans as well as the Repub- 
licans ; and yet, sir, notwithstanding all this, and 
the further consideration, too, that many mem- 
bers of the American party South were Anti-Ne- 
braska men, and some of them opponents of it in 
the last Congress, yet, on the final vote, every 
member of that party present from the South 
voted for the Democratic nominee, except two 
members, [Mr. Culle.v and Mr. Davis,] who voted 
for the American candidate. Why, sir, let me 
ask, was this sectional vote given? Was it not 
in consequence of the sectionalism of Slavery? 

Again : When the telegraph wires, day after 
day, brought the tidings of the invasion of Kan- 
sas by the border ruffians from the State of Mis- 
souri, and the reign of anarchy and civil war in 
the Territory of Kansas, a proposition was in- 
troduced by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. 
Dunx,] appointing a committee from this House 
to go to Kansas and investigate the alleged 
frauds in that Territory. Well, sir, on this fair, 



12 



just, and peaceful proposition — a proposition, in 
mv opinion, that saved the lives and property of 
hundreds and thousands of the people of that 
unfortunate Territory — not a man voted for it 
from a slave State. 

Again : When the gentleman from Maine [Mr. 
Knqwlton] offered a resolution of inquiry re- 
specting the murder of Thomas Keating, the Irish 
waiter at H'illard's, by Mr. Herbert, a member of 
this House, every member from the slave States, 
except one, voted against it, as did every mem- 
ber present of the Democratic party, except two, 
[Mr. Kku.y and Mr. Williams.] Yeas 70, nays 
79, was the vote. 

Is Slavery not sectional and aggressive 9 Or is 
the murder of a poor Irish waiter not worth investi- 
gating ? 

Again : On the vote admitting Mr. Archer, of 
Illinois, to his seat, on the report of the Commit- 
tee on Elections, every member present and vo- 
ting from the slave States voted against his ad- 
mission. Archer is an American Republican. 

Again : On the vote to expel the Hon. Preston 
S. Brooks, and. to censure the Hon. Lawrence 
M. Keitt, members of this House from the State 
of South Carolina, for the brutal and murderous 
assault on the Hon. Charles Sumner, a Senator 
from the State of Massachusetts, for words spoken 
in debate, in the Senate of the United States, and 
in reply to Senator Butler, of South Carolina, 
and of the institution of human Slavery in the 
slave States, and not for any act done or word 
spoken by that Senator, to or reflecting on either 
of the members referred to above, and which as- 
sault was proved to have well-nigh destroyed 
that Senator's life, every member present, and voting 
from the slave States, except one in each case, voted 
against expelling Brooks and censuring Keitt. 

Well, sir, this is not all of this case. The mem- 
ber from South Carolina [Mr. Brooks] has since 
said to this House : 

" I went to work very deliberately, as I am charged— 
and tins is atfmhfed— and speculaied somewhat as to 
wb.elh.ei 1 shouid employ a horse-whip or cowhide; but, 
knowing thai the Senator was my superior in strength, it 
occurred to me that he might wrest it from my hand, and 
then— for I never attempt anything I do not perform—] 
might have been compelled to do that which I would have 
regretted the balance of my natural life." 

Now, sir, without some further explanations, 
there might be some doubt as to what the mem- 
ber refers to in saying, " I might have been com- 
pelled to do that which I would have regretted 
the balance of my natural life." I am credibly in- 
formed as to what he did mean ; and it is this, as 
stated by that member to the honorable gen- 
tleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. De Witt :] that 
if Senator Sumner had made an apparent suc- 
cessful defence, he would have shot him dead ! 
And for the crime and damage of this unexampled 
assault in the history of our country, Judge Craw- 
ford, of the Criminal Court of the District of Co- 
lumbia, fined the member from South Carolina 
tfie enormous sum of $300 ! 

Is there no power and influence of the sectionalism 
of Slavery in this ? 

Again: On the bill introduced by the gentle- 
man from Indiana [Mr. Dunn] for restoring the 
" Missouri Compromise act," and for liberating 



the Free State men in Kansas from their unlawful 
imprisonment, itnd for reorganizing the Territo- 
rial Government of Kansas, every Representative 
present and voting from the slave States voted 
against it. 

Again : On the report of the Committee on 
Elections against the right of Whitfield, the Dele- 
gate from Kansas, to his seat, on proof of the 
most reliable and unquestioned character, every 
Representative present and voting from the slave 
States voted in his favor. I make no comments 
on this extraordinary and sectional vote, but 
refer you to the testimony and report of your 
committee sent to Kansas to investigate this and 
other cases of fraud. 

This, Mr. Chairman, brings me down to the 
consideration of 
the social influence of slavery, and its corrupt 

and dangerous influence to the community 

where it exists. 

Soon after the commencement of the present 
session of Congress, and before the election of 
Speaker, a member of this House [Mr. Rust] as- 
saulted and beat Horace Greeley with a cane. A 
few days later, another member of this House 
[ex-Governor Smith, of Virginia] had a street 
tight with the editor of the Star, (Mr. Wallach.) 
Next in order is the murder of Keating by a 
member of this House, [Mr. Herbert,] and the 
assault of Sumner by Messrs. Brooks and Keitt, 
of which I have heretofore spoken. 

TRIAL OF HERBERT FOR THE MURDER OF KEATING. 

Mr. Chairman, I have but a few words more to 
say on these to me unpleasant subjects. But 
duty, as well as humanity, demands that some- 
thing should be said respecting the murder of 
Thomas Keating, the Irish waiter at Willard's 
Hotel, by the member from California, [Mr. 
Herbert,] and the extraordinary circumstances 
and facts connected with the action of Judge 
Crawford, District Attorney Key, and Marshal 
Hoover, concerning the same. 

The murder was committed in the city of the 
capital of the nation, by a Representative of the 
American Congress, and under circumstancea 
that has caused the attention of every citizen of 
the country to it, and the eyes of the civilized 
world upon it, in consequence of the place where 
it occurred, and the official position of the man 
who perpetrated the act. 

The magistrates who made the preliminary 
examination of the killing of Keating issued a 
warrant to commit Herbert to await his trial for 
murder. Judge Crawford admitted him to bail. 
The District Attorney, Mr. Key, did not attend the 
first examination before Judge Crawford, or make 
any effort to resist Herbert's application for the 
privilege of being admitted to bail. On the 
morning when Judge Crawford made his order 
admitting Herbert to bail, the District Attorney 
was present, but said nothing. 

Mr. Chairman, it is well known that the District 
Attorney, Mr. Key, is a warm personal, political, 
and bosom friend of Mr. Herbert ; that he re- 
fused to allow the friends of Keating to employ 
any associate counsel to aid in the trial, until 1 he 
day before the commencement of the first trial ; 



1; 



that he then said to the friends of Keating that 
he would make application to the court for a 
postponement of the trial for one day, to enable 
them to procure an associate counsel to aid him on 
the trial, but that he omitted to make the applica- 
tion to the court. On the trial of the case, the Dis- 
trict Attorney abandoned the charge of murder, 
and only asked a conviction for manslaughter. It 
was under the legal advice and direction of this 
same District Attorney that the grand jurors found 
an indictment for murder. The motive for this par- 
ticular form of indictment may not be certain, 
but its effect and consequences were unmistakable. 
The indictment being for murder, gave the de- 
fendant the right of peremptorily challenging 
thirty-six jurors. The power to set aside that 
number without assigning any reason, in con- 
nection with the character of the whole body of 
the jurors summoned in by the Marshal, really 
gave to the member from California [Mr. Herbert] 
the selection of the jury who were to decide upon 
his fate. Did the District Attorney foresee, or did 
he intend, precisely, this result ? 

It is further said that Marshal Hoover, who 
has power to sumom jurors at discretion for 
the Criminal Court of this District, is also a 
devoted personal and political friend, and here- 
tofore a frequent visiter, of the member from 
California. It is further charged, that the bailoi' 
Herbert, before his indictment for the murder of 
Keating, is a brother of Postmaster Berret, of 
the city post office, and an officer or subordinate 
in one of the Departments. 

It is further charged, that the member from 
California [Mr. Herbebt] is a friend of the Ad- 
ministration; that he was a delegate to the Na- 
tional Democratic Cincinnati Convention ; that 
District Attorney Key, Marshal Hoover, and Mr. 
Berret, received their respective offices by ap- 
pointments from the President and his Adminis- 
tration. 

Well, sir, on submitting the charge to the jury, 
ou the first trial, Judge Crawford, at the instance 
and request of the counsel of the prisoner, laid 
down the following principle of law for the gui- 
dance of the jury, namely. 

" Mr. Bradley asked the Court to instruct the jury upon 
the points of law, and .Mr. Walker immediately rose with 
a set of instructions framed by the defence, which he 
asked should be given to the jury. These Mr. Walker 
proceeded to read, and then passed them up to Judge 
Crawford, who promptly reported them to the jury as the 
instructions of the Court. 

'•These instructions are as follows: 

"•Jst. If a sudden affray arose between the accused 
and the deceased, and afterwards several other persons 
interfered to assist the deceased, and by these assailants 
the defendant was borne down and beaten, and had reason 
to believe that he was in imminent danger of great bodily 
harm, from which he could not safely escape, and 
while in this position tired the pistol by which the de- 
ceased was killed, it was in judgment of law a case of 
excusable homicide, and it is immaterial, in the absence 
of premeditation and malice, by whom the alfray was 
commenced. And it is also not material that the accused 
might have escaped before the imminent peril came upon 
him, if at the time the peril cam- ht had reason to believe 
himself in imminent peril of life, or of great bodily harm, 
and when he tired the pistol he could not safely escape. 

'•••J. To have authorized Herbert to take the life of 
Keating, the necessity for doing so need not be actual; 
for if the circumstances were such as to impress his 
(Herbert's) mind with the reasonable belief that such ne- 
cessity was impending, it is sulticient. 



"'3d. If the jury believe, from the evidence, that at 
the time the pistol was discharged Herbert was being 
pressed by superior numbers, and was in danger of death 
or of serious .bodily harm, and from which lie could not 
safely escape, he was justified in taking life. 

"••uh. [f the jury entertain reasonable doubts as to 
auv material fact necessary to make out the case for the 
Government, they must give the benefit to the defendant.'" 

Well, Mr. Chairman, I am no lawyer ; but if 
this is law in the Criminal Court in the city of 
Washington, I do not consider it justice, and I 
intend, the first opportunity that offers, to offer a 
resolution which 1 have drawn up, directing the 
Judiciary Committee to bring in a bill, before the 
end of this session, to reorganize or abolish the 
Criminal Court in the District of Columbia. 

The result of the first trial was a disagreement 
of the jury, and a second trial has since been had, 
at which I am reliably informed that jurors were 
sworn and served, who stated to the Court that 
they had " formed and had expressed and still 
entertained opinions respecting the guilt or inno- 
cence of the accused." This jury acquitted the 
member from California, as might be expected 
they would, after such acts of the Court. This 
ends my brief history of this most extraordinary 
trial. In passing, Mr. Chairman I beg to say a 
word or two to the people of Washington. If 
such acts of violence and such decisions of courts 
and verdicts of juries arc to be continued, the 
day is not far distant when a removal of the 
capital of this nation will be demanded and con- 
summated by the people of the United States. 

Again : Even in the State of old Virginia, the 
mother of Presidents, two citizens — Mr. Under- 
wood and his associate delegate to the National 
Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia ou 
the Pith of June last — have been compelled to 
iiee from that State, to avoid acts of violence up- 
on them, for no other reason, that I have heard 
gh en, than for simply attending said Convention, 
and giving utterance to their sentiments on the 
political topics of the day. And yet, sir. public 
meetings have been held in that State, and reso- 
lutions adopted, giving notice to these gentlemen 
that they must leave the State. I need not say 
more ; the facts are recent, and are before the 
country. 

Again, sir:, We hear of and see letters from 
some of the most leading and controlling men in 
the slave States — men who have heretofore been 
"Whigs or Americans— coming out in favor of the 
election of James Buchanan for the Presidency. 
Among the most recent are Senators Pratt and 
Pearce, of Maryland, both heretofore leading 
Whigs ; and to-night, sir, we have heard from the 
lips of the distinguished member from Alabama, 
[Mr. Walker,] that he, too, follows in the train 
of the supporters of Buchanan, and for the same 
principal reasons assigned by the Senators from 
Maryland, namely, the safety of tin- institution of 
Slavery in the hands of the Democratic party : a gen- 
tleman, allow me to say, who, as it is well known, 
has heretofore acted with and been a member of 
the American party; and he has told us to-night 
that he was a delegate to the National American 
Convention that nominated Fillmore and Donel- 
son. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I well recollect of the 
prominent part that gentleman took in that Con- 



14 



rention, and of the fact of his being a prominent 
candidate, and warmly supported by delegates 
in that Contention, for the nomination of Vice 
President ; a gentleman, let me add, who has re- 
cently distinguished himself as the counsel of the 
member from California, [Mr. Herbert,] on the 
trial of that member for the murder of Thomas 
Keating, the Irish waiter at Willard's Hotel, to 
which I have heretofore referred. Well, sir, he 
has gone, and is now in the full embrace of the 
Democratic party. 

Is (here no sectional influence in the institution of 
Human Slavery ? 

the remedy, 
The remedy for the present unhappy stale of 
affairs existing between the different sections of 
the country is in a return to the principles of 
the early fathers of the Republic, in the admission 
of Kansas as a free State, for which we have 
precedents in the admission of Michigan and 
California, for which we have the approval of 
Judge McLean, who said in his letter to Chief 
Justice Hornblower, of New Jersey, on the Gth 
June last. " I have no hesitation in saying that 
the immediate admission of Kansas as a State 
into the Union, under the Constitution already 
formed, commends itself to me as a measure of 
sound policy, and well calculated to briDg peace 
to the Territory and to the country." 

Or, sir, if the Senate will pass the bill sent to 
it, restoring the Missouri restriction, which pro- 
tects the Territory to Freedom north of 36° 30' 
north latitude forever, and liberates the freemen 
in Kansas that are unlawfully imprisoned there, 
and provides for the reorganization of the Terri- 
tory until it is admitted into the Union as a 
State. Are not these just, reasonable, and easy 
remedies — the true ones to restore peace and tran- 
quillity in Kansas and throughout the country ? 

THE ISSUE. 

Kansas never should and never can be ad- 
mitted as a slave State. The South should not at- 
tempt to increase the evils that are upon us, and 
delay action in the vain hope of success. The 
great question now is, the extension or non«ex- 



tension of Slavery into free territory. On this 
question there are but two parties — those who 
are for it, and those who are against it. It is 
the great question before which all others sink 
into insignificance. It is not an unimportant 
question of the day, but it concerns the stability 
of the Union, the preservation of the Constitu- 
tion — that instrument of universal Freedom, con- 
templated as such by its framers, and interpreted 
as such by all men, South and North, until within 
a few years past. It has ever been considered 
a chart of Freedom, established to secure this 
boon ; giving liberty to the States to do wli.it 
they think to be proper within their own limits, 
as to them shall seem to be right and just, but 
claiming no right a nd conceding no right to them 
to carry their own peculiar institutions beyond 
the limitations conferred by the sovereignty of 
States. The North asks for nothing more — she 
cannot and will not consent to anything less. 

How momentous the issue! How just and 
righteous the cause ! How certain the result, if 
the friends of Freedom stand firm, as I hare no 
doubt they will. Let the friends, then, of Free 
Kansas plant themselves firmly and unitedly on 
the old Jeffersonian platform of Liberty, the 
Constitution, the Union, the Sovereignty of the 
States, and their full and undisturbed reserved 
rights. It is on this platform that I plant my- 
self in the approaching Presidential contest. I 
am for the fullest and amplest justice to the 
South, and claim the same for the North. Party 
ties with me are nothing, compared with duty. 
Yet I know full well that it requires some effort 
to break loose from our party associations; but 
I trust, where duty points the way, we shall be 
found willing followers. For one, I know no 
party so dear to me as my country, no obligation 
so binding but to put forth all the energy, 
strength, and power, that God has given me, to 
preserve it. If we but do this, when the evening 
of life is upon us — and it will soon overtake us 
all — and the sands of this life fast washing 
away, it will be a consoling thought to be able 
to cast our memories back to the part we took 
in this crisi3 of our country's cause ! 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS 

1856. 



-• 



CIRCULATE THE DOCUMENTS. 



The Republican Association of Washington City, in order to afford every 
facility for a profuse distribution of documents during the campaign, have made 
extensive arrangements for publishing speeches and documents favoring the prin- 
ciples of the Republican Party, and will furnish them to individuals, or clubs, at 
the bare cost of publication. 

The following is a list of those already published ; and, being stereotyped, we 
arc enabled to supply any number of copies at short notice : 
List of Documents already published, and which will be kept for sale till the end of the Campaign. 



At 62 cents per 100 copies, free -of postage. 

Poor Whites of the Sou'.h. — Weston. 
Will llie s mih Dissolve the Union? — WesJon. 
! ', '. ion, it must be Preserved.— Weston. 

avery reduces Northern Wages.— Weston. 
v.' n re Si clional '. — Weston. 
Review oi the Kansas Minority Report. —Hon. J. Sher- 

in. u: 
Reasons for Joining the Republican Party— Judge Foot. 
Kansas Contested Election.— Hon. J. a. Hingliam. 
Admission ofKansas.— Hon. G. A. Grow. 
Collainer's Report and Speech in favor of Frue State 

Cotistitut : hi for Kansa i. 
Kansas Adairs. — Hon. 11. Waldron. 
Defence ol Kansas.— Rev. Henry Ward B-echer. 
Defence o Massachusetts.— Hon A Burlingame. 
Privilege of llie Representative, Privilege of the People — 

Hon .! R. Giddings. 
Democratic Party as it Was and as itls— Hon. T.C.Day. 
The Humbug and the Reality —Hon. T. C. Day. 
Blair's I. :tl r to the Republican Association. 
The Slav Quesi on.— Hon, J. Allison. 
Slavery Unconstitutional. — Hon. A. P. Granger. 

At $1.25 per 100 copies, free of postage. 

Kansas in \ -■*'■- A complete History of the Outrages in 
Kansas not embraced in the Kansas Committee's Re- 
port.— Ily an ( Itfieer of the Commission. 

Immediate Vdmissiou of Kansas. — Hon. W. H Seward. 

Admission of Kansas, and the Political Effects of Slave- 
ry.— Ho i. II Bennett. 

Affairs in Kansas. — Hon. L Trumbull. 

Wrongs i , Kni • a —lion. J P Hale. 

Admission of Kansas.— Hon B F. Wad«. 

State ol tirs in Kansas — Hon. H. Wilson. 

Admissl of Kansas.— Hon. James Harlan. 

The '-La Kansas. — lion. Schuyler Colfax. 

Organi/: :ii o( the Free State Government in Kansas, 
and [nau ural Address of Governor Robinson. 

Plymouth Oration. — Hon. W H Seward 

The Dai Kxieuding Slavery, and The Contest and 

the i'r : two Speeches in one pamphlet. — Hon. W. 

II . Si \ 

Po'ine- il L! : Country.— Hon. Israel Washburn. 
Complaints of the Extensionists ; their Falsity.— Hon. 

Philen 
The SI iverv Question — Hon. Edward Wade. 
Extravagao H cpendituree.— iloiu E Ball. 



Freedom National. Slavery Sectional. — Hon .7. J. Perry. 

The Army of the United States not to be Employed as a. 
Police to Enforce the Laws of thu Conquerors of Kan- 
sas —Hon. W. H. Seward. 

.Modern ■■ BtiiiioerucY » the Ally of Slavery.— Hon. M. W 
Tappan. 

At §2*50 per 100 copies, free of postage. 

Crime against Kansas —Hon. Charles Sumner. 
Report of the Kansas Investigating Committee. 
Lite ol Fremont, illustrated. 

The Nebraska Question, containing the Speechesof Dong- 
las. Chase. Smith, Everett. Wude, Badger, Seward, and 
Sumner together with the History of the Mi ? souri 
Compromise, &C. Price -JO cents, tree of postage. 

Political Map of the United States, ilesigned to exhibit the 
comparative area of the Free and Slave Stales, and the 
Territory open to Slavery by the Repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise. With a comparison of the principal Sta- 
tistics of the Free uud Slave Stales, from the Census of 
1^51). Highly Colored. Price -JO cents, free of postage. 



In the German Language. 

Crime against Kansas.— lion. Charles Sumner. Price 

g2.50 per 100. 
Life of Fremont, illustrated. Price S2.50 per 100. 
The " Laws' of Kansas.— Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Price 

S12-3 per 100. 
The Dangers of Extending Slavery . — Hon. W. H. Seward. 

Price SI. 25 per 100. 
The Confst una the Crisis.— W. H. Seward. Price S1.25 

per 100. 

The Immediate Admission of Kansas.— Hon. W. H. Sew- 
ard Price $1.35 per 100. 
Address of the National Republican Committee. Price 

®] -Xt per 100. 
Francis P. Blair's Letter to the Republican Association. 

Price f)2 cents p.-r KMJ. 
Slavery Unconstitutional.— Hon. A. P. Granger. Price 

(5°. cents per 100. 
Poor White, of the South— G. M. Weston. Price 02 

cents per 100. 
Report Mif the Kansas Investigating Committee. Price 

8:2 50 per 100. 



A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by the 

thousand copies. Address 

L. CLEPHANE, 

Secretary, Washington, D. C. 



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